Woody Guthrie, the great American folk musician, was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, on July 14, 1912, and he lived in New York City off and on from 1940 until his death from Huntington’s disease in 1967. Beginning in 2001, various folk performers would come together in Lower Manhattan one Sunday each July to celebrate Woody’s birthday with a good old-fashioned hootenanny. Some of the personnel changed from year to year, while others returned time and again. Some were full time working musicians, while others were talented semi-professionals: teachers, psychologists, editors, librarians, archivists, and whatnot who played an occasional gig. All shared a love of Woody’s music, and when called upon, they backed each other up with vocal and instrumental accompaniment. The first six Woody Guthrie Birthday Bashes took place at CB’s 313 Gallery, the acoustic twin of CBGB/Omfug, the famed punk-rock club. In 2007, after CB’s 313 Gallery and CBGB/Omfug closed, the Birthday Bash moved across the street to the Bowery Poetry Club.
As of 2009, Woody Guthrie Birthday Bash performers have included Hillel Arnold, Fred Backus, Jordan Brand, Oscar Brand, Toby Fagenson, Jessica Feinbloom, Emma Graves, Robin Greenstein, Michael Imperiale, David Kleiman, Joel Landy, Chris Lang, Mimi LaValley, Eric Levine, George Levine, Mark Maniak, Ethan Miller, Lorcan Otway, Sandy Pliskin, Anne Price, Jimmy Rao, Carlos Rosello, James Rubin, Erica Smith, Steve Suffet, Alex Talavera, Gina Tlamsa, Carlos Vazquez, and Frank Woerner. The list grows every year.
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